Chapter 8:
RNJR were making their way up a mountain. Their next village, Fondovalle sat at the base of two mountains. And instead of going through the large canyon that the mountains created, they decided to go over the mountains. They were nearing the top and saw the large bridge that connected the two peaks. Ruby decided now was a good time to go over the plan.
"So after we get to this next village, we should be about a week and a half from Haven, from there we'll meet up with SSSN and try and find the hole Cinder's hiding in."
"If shes there at all," said Ren.
"Even if she isn't, someone there must know something. Perhaps the criminal underground, or WhiteFang have an idea of where she might have gone," said Jaune.
"Hey who the hell is that guy?" asked Nora.
"True as that may be, I wouldn't want to hold our breath. Though I am optimistic we may find her, I'm not going to put all my hope into it." retorted Ren
"I can understand that I suppose. But we'll just have to wait and see." replied Jaune.
"Hey Nora was right, who is that guy?" asked Ruby.
"What will we even do if we find her?" asked Ren.
"Well, my semblance can do us a lot of good, and Ruby's eyes might be able to stop her, she did it once."
"Guys?"
"True, but are we going to have a plan or just rush in blindly?"
"Isn't improvising a plan in itself?"
"I suppose so, but either way, I'm sure that,"
""OW!"" cried out both Jaune and Ren as the girls hit them in the arm.
"What the hell was that for?" asked Jaune. The girls just huffed and pointed up the trail. The boys looked up to see a black figure standing at the summit just infront of the bridge.
""Who the hell is that guy?"" the two asked simultaneously. The girls just face-palmed.
"Thats what we were trying to figure out!" said Nora waving her arms around dramatically.
"Well, lets go see then," said Jaune as he and the others approached the mysterious figure. As they got closer, they saw that the figure was wearing a black suit of armor, resting his hand ontop of his sword as it was partially dug into the ground. On his back was clearly a shield.
"Um, hello, are you okay?" asked Ruby.
"Jaune Arc" said the black knight.
"Uh, yes?" said Jaune. The figure looked up to reveal two glowing red eyes behind his helmet visor.
"At last, the White Knight appears. I have waited a long time for this." said the stranger.
"Who are you?" asked Ren.
The stranger looked up with a smirk. He had blood red eyes and a very pale complexion, "My name is Arthur. And I am the one who will kill, Jaune Arc, the fabled White Knight..."
Blake was jumping from tree-branch to tree-branch. She was circling around a small White Fang camp, devising her plan of attack. Unlike Yang and Weiss, Blake was still in prime physical condition. After tracking the White Fang and Adam for five months, she had to stay in shape. However, unlike Yang and Weiss, she was tired. Very, very tired. In just the past week Blake had gotten a combined total of fourteen hours of sleep. And it was taking its toll. She had heavy bags under her eyes, her entire body was racked with pain, and as much as she hated to admit it, her reflexes and motor skills as a whole were significantly slower.
I'll sleep when hes dead, after all, its my fault he hurt all those people, sleep is a luxury I no longer deserve. thought Blake as she rubbed her eyes, trying to stay awake as she stalked her prey. This was about the thirtieth White Fang camp she had come across, having been a former member she knew where all the camps were located. Its nice to see that Adam is too hung up on the past to even bother changing the camps locations thought Blake with a small grin.
"Sir!" Blake snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the dog Faunus approaching the camp leader.
"Yes Lieutenant, what is it?" asked the Deer Faunus.
"Sir we just got word from Adam. We are to move to base number eighty-six." replied the Lieutenant.
"Base eighty-six, thats in Atlas right? Yeah it is, why are we to go there?" asked the Deer.
"I don't know sir, all I heard was that once we get there Adam himself will give us instructions."
"Oh, so the old boys finally coming out of hiding, about damn time. Alright, go round everyone up, we leave at dawn," ordered the Deer Faunus.
"Yes Sir!" saluted the Dog as he went to go fetch the other White Fang members.
This is my chance! thought Blake as she quickly ran off towards the nearest town. After I kill that monster maybe the White Fang will return to the way it was, and then maybe I can be able to face my team again, Blake frowned as she thought of team RWBY, and her first true friends. She thought of all the good times they had, the laughs, the victories, and the memories she would cherish forever. Blake arrived in a small village after about half an hour of branch hopping. She immediately stowed away on one of the trains leaving the city and found herself on her way to Atlas. She pulled out a picture that the team had taken after they beat Roman and began to cry.
Soon guys, I'll be back soon, and then I'll never run away again, I swear it... thought Blake as she began to drift off into sleep.
"Is that so?" asked Jaune as he readied his sword taking a few steps ahead of his team.
"Indeed, and just to be sure your little friends don't intervene," said Arthur as he hit a button on his gauntlet. Suddenly the ground beneath the two knights began to rise.
"What the hell!?" said Jaune as he looked around to see a small platform begin to rise into the air. He looked over his shoulder to see his teammates looking up at him in shock.
"Now then," said Arthur as he readied his weapons, "Shall we begin?"
"We shall," said Jaune as he activated his semblance with the white armor forming over him. What Arthur did next surprised Jaune, he created a duplicate set of armor, only his was a blood red color.
"B-but how?" asked a bewildered Jaune.
"Easy, my semblance is copy-cat. So then, shall we begin?" Arthur suddenly rushed Jaune. Jaune didn't even flinch as Arthur slashed his sword across Jaune's head, just pinning off. Jaune decided to test just how good Arthur could copy a semblance and gave a slash of his own, only for the exact same thing to happen.
"You see? A perfect copy of your semblance!" Arthur proclaimed proudly.
"Well, it would appear that battle will get us nowhere, so how about a battle of minds?" asked Jaune.
"That sounds interesting, how do we play?" asked Arthur.
"Simple, I'm going to get you to run off this cliff," said Jaune with a smug smile.
"Oh, the White Knight is getting cocky now eh? And just how do you plan on doing that?"
"But that would ruin the surprise! Now then, lets begin. I will first ask you a question, then you me, and we will go back and fourth. Understand?" asked Jaune. Arthur simply nodded. "Great, now then, how did you first meet Salem?"
"Ha, I was wandering through the woods, tiered, beaten, and bloody. I had just survived a Grimm attack, but my partner was not so lucky. Then, she appeared to me, she told me that the attack was a test, and that I had passed. After that, she gave me some of her Grimm essence, and I became her loyal servant."
"Grimm essence?" asked Jaune. Lucius mentioned something about that, thought Jaune.
"Ah ah ah, it my turn to ask the question. Now then, Why did you become a Hunter?"
"Simple, I wanted to help the weak and save lives. Since my family is full of famous Hunters, I figured this would be a good way to carry the torch. What is Grimm Essence?
"It is a gift of the Mistress. It is pure Grimm, and it can grant incredible powers. She only gave me a small taste of its power, but after I kill you, she will give me more, much more. What is it like being a failure?"
"Oh not that hard, you get used to the ridicule after a while. But I don't consider myself a failure. What was your partners name?"
"Wait? What!" asked an angry Arthur.
"What was your partners name?" asked Jaune again as he deactivated his semblance, to notice Arthur do the same.
"His name was Lance, he was, he was my brother. But he was weak, and I was strong! He was just holding me back. Tell me now Arc, whats it like knowing that Pyrrha Nikos sacrificed herself to save your lame ass." Arthur noticed that he had touched a nerve, but was shocked by Jaune's answer.
"It is the biggest shame I will be forced to carry in my life. That just because I wasn't strong enough, my partner had to die. Now tell me this Arthur, what it like only being a pawn?"
"What do you mean by that?" asked Arthur as his fist clenched as Jaune imputed upon his honor.
"I mean think about it, I've had only one interaction with this Salem, but I already know she has more respect for me that you. If I were to turn to her side now, I know she would give me more Grimm Essence than you. And do you know why that is Arthur?"
"Why?" asked Arthur as his teeth grit together and his grip tightened on this sword.
"Because, I'm not some lost little child in the woods trying to play pretend. I am a Knight, and you, you're just a boy in black armor." said Jaune with a smile.
"WHY YOU!" screamed Arthur as he charged at Jaune with everything he had. Jaune simply stood still and waited to Arthur to approach. Then, at the last second, Jaune took a simple side step and avoided Arthur's sword strike. Arthur quickly tried to whirl back around, but discovered that he had made a fatal error. During their back and forth Jaune had slowly moved towards the edge of the platform, and Arthur had just charged right off of it, just as Jaune had said he would.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" cried Arthur as he fell of the platform, and subsequently, the cliff that he had met RNJR on.
"Knight takes Pawn," said Jaune as the platform began to lower.
"Okay, so if we can just launch Ruby with enough power, we should be able to," said Nora as she was devising a rescue plan to get Jaune back when Ren suddenly silenced her.
"Hey, do you guys hear that?"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The three suddenly turned to their side to see the Black figure from earlier plummeting towards the Earth. They rushed to the edge of the bridge to see him free-falling. He hit the side of the cliff hard and stopped his screaming. The three teens watched as his body went limp, and his weapons flew away from him. His body drifting down until the mist devoured him. All of a sudden, that platform began to descend.
"Jaune!" cried out Ruby as she rushed over to give him a hug.
"Hi Ruby!" said a slightly surprised Jaune.
"What happened up there?" asked Nora.
"Simple, his anger got the best of him and he charge off a cliff," said Jaune.
"You tricked him into attacking you, didn't you?" asked Ren. Jaune just flashed him a smile.
"Well come on! Lets go," said Ruby as she let go of Jaune and started to make her way across the bridge.
Salem looked over her chess board and moved the White Knight piece to the spot a Black Pawn previously held. However, instead of anger of disgust at her pan's failure, she instead had a sadistic smile on her face.
"Oh Jaune, you don't know what I have planned for you, hahahahahahahaha."
Chapter 8 complete! And before anyone asks, yes I did take a little inspiration for Arthur from King Arthur. But only in terms of him being a knight, and his partners name. Any ways, thanks for all the support, next chapter up tomorrow.
